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Who doesn’t love a bargain, especially after endless searching for your coveted item? Often the opportunity to save money can strongly influence shoppers’ ultimate purchase decisions, effectively boosting their purchase intent on the spot. 

For retailers in the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and India, Google Shopping offers the opportunity to add the Promotions Feed in the Merchant Centre. 

Types of Google Shopping promotions

In the Merchant Centre, you can apply the three following types of promotions:

  • Discounts – Providing a percentage discount, a buy-one-get-one-free offer, or a buy-one-get-the second discounted offer.
  • Free Gift – your customer receives a free gift or gift card when they spend a specific amount on your website.
  • Delivery – free or discounted delivery fees.
  • Cashback and rebates (you must highlight this at checkout), and mail-in rebates are not permitted.

Why? 

The main purpose of using Google Shopping promotions is to distinguish yourself from your competitors, and to encourage potential buyers to visit your website. Adding discounts will help to increase your click-through rates and conversions, but dig a little deeper, and you’ll find greater rewards for your promotional efforts.

By introducing a promotion which only functions when the basket value reaches a specified amount, your customers are likely to add more items to their basket than they were initially looking to buy. Therefore, by running these promotions, you’re able to increase your average order value, making each converting click more valuable. 

What’s more, discounting the consumable items in your inventory can increase your customer lifetime value. This enables you to prompt customers to return organically for replenishable products, resulting in a gateway to high-value customers to your store.

How do I add promotions in Google Shopping?

You can add promotions in Google Merchant Centre if your product feed is currently active. For some, you can navigate directly to the “Promotions” tab down the left-hand side in the Merchant Centre. However, if this doesn’t appear, you will need to fill out the Merchants Promotions Interest Form, which will enable you to add the Promotions Feed within 24 hours.

From the Promotions Feed, tap in the items you’re looking to discount, and add a suitable promotion (as listed above). 

Don’t worry, CPC rates aren’t affected by promotions, meaning your ranking remains unaffected too.

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Best Practices for discounting on Google Shopping

Needless to say, there are strict parameters to follow, and your promotions must tick a few boxes for Google to give you the go-ahead: 

  • Your original (non-discounted) price must have existed for a minimum of 30 days in the past 180 days. 
  • Your new, discounted price must offer at least 5% and no more than 90% of the original sales price. 
  • Both the original and discounted prices must be displayed on the product landing page. 
  • Items already marked-down do not count as a promotion. Instead, the discount must take place at checkout/point of sale.
  • You must provide a code specific to customers clicking-through from your Google Shopping ad. i.e. If your website is offering free delivery to anyone who visits (organically or from another channel), Google will not approve your ‘free delivery’ promotion. 

Adding promotions to Google Shopping can help you to capture more relevant clicks, boosting your Shopping approach. To learn more about unlocking your Google Shopping potential, check out our FAQs and resources page or book a call with us today.

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